Whales are thought to sleep approximately 8 hours a day. Since whales need to be conscious in order to breathe, they cannot afford to fall into an unconscious state for too long. It is thought that only one hemisphere of their brains sleeps at a time, so that they are never completely asleep, but still get the rest they need.

Whales belong to the order Cetacea. They are classified as those cetaceans which are neither dolphins nor porpoises.

Like all mammals, whales have lungs to breath air & the females produce milk to nourish their young from mammary glands.

A whale's forelimbs or pectoral fins are paddle-shaped and are also known as flippers.

Whales have a unique respiratory system that lets them stay underwater for long periods of time without taking in oxygen. Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours holding a single breath!

The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived and the largest living animal. It grows up to 93 feet long and weighs up to 180 tons.

In most whales, reproductive maturity occurs at approximately seven to ten years. This allows for few offspring, but provides each with a high probability of survival in the wild.

Baleen whales have two blowholes, causing a V-shaped blow.

Instead of teeth, Baleen whales have baleen in the upper jaw. They engulf sea water and use this filter feeding method to trap small ocean animals inside their mouths.

A whale's blubber serves as an energy reservoir, insulation, and can also aid in buoyancy.